The Sun Won't Set
by The Little Monster 1024
Summary: She said no. She said no and she left. Why is it always that she doesn't know she needs him until it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**The Sun Won't Set**

**Chapter One**

* * *

The sun doesn't shine through the windows of her apartment. There's a giant, ugly grey building blocking it. This leaves the gloomy walls of her apartment even greyer. She has a lamp, but light bulbs are different than the rays of the sun.

Even in New York, sunlight seeped into her living room. But now she's in Washington D.C. and there's no sunlight. Ever.

Kate pushed the door open with a sigh and kicked her heels off next to the closet door. She yawned as she did so. She was tired. She was always so tired. The job took a lot out of her.

She brushed her hair out of her face, tucking the shorter pieces behind her ear. She padded across her living room, tossing her jacket onto the couch as she went. When she reached the kitchen she pulled the refrigerator door open and peered in at her dinner selections.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the rotten strawberries that had been in there for the whole six months she'd been in D.C. Hm, a week old tuna sandwich? No. Deli meat? No, that went bad a week ago. She supposed she could cook an actual meal. Her grumbling stomach and small yawn answered that for her, no patience for that. She reached into the fridge and grabbed the previous night's left over Chinese take out. She poured it onto a paper plate and popped it into the microwave.

She walked back into her bedroom, undressing on the way. She tossed her shirt and pants into the growing pile on the floor and walked through her bedroom in search of some pajamas.

She picked up a cardboard box that still contained some of her clothes and sat it on the bed. She sifted through the box and pulled out her purple leggings. She looked for the shirt, moving the clothes around and unfolding them. She was at the bottom of the box, when her hand moved over a soft material, softer than her clothes. An old t-shirt. She froze for a second and gently lifted the shirt from the box. She held it in both of her hands and dropped down to sit on her bed.

Castle's Captain America t-shirt.

When they had been dating, she used to wear it to bed. He'd given it to her, or she just took it. She must've forgotten to give it back.

_"Hey, that's my shirt!"_

_She smiled and pulled the shirt completely over her head. "It's mine now." She grinned, pulling her jeans on._

_"You're stealing my shirt?" He said, smiling just a little as he pulled her into the vee of his legs, wrapping his arms around her waist._

_She nodded and moved to sit on his lap. "You said it looked better on me anyway."_

_He leaned in and kissed her gently. "It does. So much better."_

The sound of the microwave brought her from her memory. She sat the shirt back in the box and pulled on a different one. She pulled her steaming food from the microwave and hopped up on the counter to her dinner alone again.

* * *

"Richard, Gina called again." Martha said, walking into her son's office,

He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. "I know. She's been calling all day."

Martha sat down on the corner of Castle's desk, looking at him. "What does she want?"

"I'm behind on Nikki chapters."

Martha nodded. He'd been behind on this whole book. With the title, with chapters, manuscripts. His muse left him and took all of his inspiration with her.

"What am I going to do, mother?" He asked, looking up at her.

She took her son's hand, god she hated to see him so heartbroken. He'd been in love before, but never like with Kate. The closest in comparison would be Kyra, and even she is nothing in comparison to Kate.

"Maybe it's time to move on from Nikki." _Move on from Kate_. Martha said softly.

Rick's breath caught a little. Move on from Nikki? There's been four books, almost five now. Four dedications. Five years. He's poured…everything into these books. But then again, she's already moved on. He nodded a little. "Maybe you're right."

* * *

"He's rounding the corner." Kate stated into her ear piece to the waiting agents in the van a few yards away. Their guy is a thirty eight year old killer. He's wanted in more than ten states for crimes. He'd been on the run for years and has soared to the top of the FBI's most wanted list.

But now, she could see him. She could see him running from them, and she knew damn well he wasn't getting away.

The job wasn't all that it really lived up to be for her. Maybe she just missed her murder board. Or her desk. Or her boys. But, the job wasn't all it was made out to be.

But this, knowing that she's helping bring someone who is responsible for the murder of over ten young girls to justice, is what keeps her doing it. She's helping to make her country a better place. Even if she's unhappy.

She;s not unhappy.

Is she?  
"Beckett! Beckett, watch your back he's-" That was all she heard before the gunshots fired, ringing through her hears and piercing through her back not once, but twice. She dropped her gun and she fell to her knees. She could feel the hot blood pouring down her back.

Everything was blurry. She could hear more gunshots and yelling, but everything was so fuzzy that they could've been a mile away. The blood burned her skin as poured. The smell of her blood was think in the air as someone held pressure to her wound from behind.

Someone took her hand but she couldn't tell who it was.

Everything was getting more blurry.

"Stay with me, Kate." Agent Franzen murmured, holding her hand.

"C-Castle…?" She said, her voice strained and gruff.

Agent Franzen looked over at one of the other agents. "Castle?"

He shrugged and went back to holding pressure to the wounds.

"Where's Castle?" She asked, her voice growing weaker. "Where is he? I-I want Castle." Her sentence slurred together at the end, and then she passed out.

The agents did everything they could to keep her alive until the paramedics got there and took over. They kept pressure on the wounds and wheeled her back to surgery in less than fifteen minutes. In critical condition, the doctors didn't know if they'd be able to save her this time.

* * *

**What do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Sun Won't Set**

**Chapter Two**

**AN: Thank you for all of the support! You guys are awesome! (:**

* * *

"I'm on my way." Jim Beckett said, closing his cell phone and pulling a pair of jeans on. He doesn't even bother to pack a bag, he just needs to _go_. He needs to get to his daughter. His baby. She was shot _again_.

"She kept asking for a…Castle? I'm assuming you know who she means?" The FBI agent had ask him. It ripped through him and hurt far more than it should've.

Katie had told him everything a few nights before she left. She told him about the job. The great opportunities. She told him about the fight with Castle, to which he said he was sure they'd work it out. Then she told him about the proposal and Jim's eyes had shifted to left hand. He was so sure she'd say yes. But Katie had her reasons, just like she always did.

When she hugged him goodbye that night, Jim knew she'd made the wrong choice. He could see it in her eyes, read her just like he could Johanna.

He hopped in the car, dialing Castle's number as he twisted the key in the ignition.

It rang three times before it answered. Jim didn't know it was because he stared at the caller ID for a few seconds before he could pick up.

"Richard Castle." He answered, his voice a little gruff. Rougher than he remembered it ever being. Things had been hard for him. I mean, the love of his life left. He was kind of a mess. He had book outlines due, he was weeks behind. What did they expect? His muse left and took all of his inspiration with her.

He didn't hate her. He wasn't mad at her, really. He was more…disappointed. It kind of felt like everything they had worked for, all of the walls they had worked so damn hard to tears down, was just pointless. And then he hated thinking that because he knew that wasn't true. They'd been great together. They made each other happy, brought out the best in each other. He knew it wasn't all pointless, but he had still hoped that all of their efforts would have been enough to make her choose to stay. To make her choose him.

And looking back on what he did, mistakes were made. The proposal. It was supposed to be a grand gesture, telling her that he'd be by her side. But to her, maybe it looked like a choice. Maybe it looked like he was giving her an ultimatum.

He wanted to kick himself every day for the way that he did it. He _knows_ her. He spent years watching her and learning everything about her. He should've known not to spring a proposal on her like that. Sitting down and just talking, that would've worked. Maybe they'd been living together in DC, instead of him sulking in his loft.

"Hi, Rick. It's Jim." Jim said, doing everything he can to keep the worry out of his voice.

"Oh. Hi, Jim."

"Listen, I…Katie was shot again." _Just blurt it out. _

"…What? Is she okay? What happened?" God, no matter how he felt. No matter what he felt about _her_. He couldn't not be concerned.

The small traces of a smile pulled at Jim's lips. This man loved his daughter so much. "I don't know. Her partner said she had just been put into the ambulance."

Partner? Oh course she had a new partner. It'd be…stupid to think she wouldn't. That didn't stop it from feeling like a punch in the chest, though.

"Rick?" Jim said, pulling Castle from his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"She was asking for you."

There was silence for a few seconds. "I'm on my way." He said quickly, Jim could already hear him moving around and getting things together.

"I'm a few minutes away from your building. You can ride with me."

* * *

_She tossed her head back and laughed._

_God, he could make her laugh so hard sometimes._

_"I'm serious!" He replied, smiling at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He loved her laugh, how it completely took over her. She laughed so loud you could hear it across the loft. It never ceased to bring a smile to his face._

_She smiled at him, that bright, toothy smile that warmed his heart. "Why would you do that? That's…crazy. Even for you."_

_He shrugged a little, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth. "They dared me."_

_She shook her head, still smiling, and leaned back against his chest as the show returned from commercial._

_They got comfortable, pulling the soft wool blanket down around them as they became entranced by the show about fairytales in the modern world. Fairy tales. Brothers Grimm. They both found it so cool. _  
_She ended up falling asleep before the episode ended, and she'd definitely regret it if she knew what Snow White had just did to the evil queen. It wasn't surprising to him, though. It'd been a long day. The body dropped a little after six in the morning and they hadn't gotten back to the loft until well after six that evening._

_He'd carry her to bed if his arm wasn't asleep from being under her for a good portion of the last hour. "Kate?" He whispered softly, dropping a feather light kiss to her temple. "Kate, wake up."_

* * *

She opened her eyes, squinting under the bright lights shining down on her. She's not at the loft. She's not wrapped up in the wool blanket and Castle's strong arms.

It had been a dream.

She just laid there for a moment, in an almost defeated sort of way, and looked up at the ceiling. She lifted her head sleepily until a sharp pain went up her body, causing her to groan and grip the railings of the hospital bed.

God, she's in the hospital. She was shot. It all flooded back to her. The van she wasn't supposed the leave. The sight of the suspect getting away, chasing after him, and then the gunshots; two of them. The confusion on her new partner's face when she asked for Castle. Castle.

She almost died…and all she could think about was him.

She felt a pain in her chest that she knew had nothing to do with the bullet holes in her back. She almost died. Alone. Again. How many times did this happen before she would stop messing up?

She felt hot tears on her face, which only made her angrier at her self.

Jesus, Kate _stop crying_.

She can't wrap her mind around the fact that she was just shot. Twice. And no one is there. No one knows. She's alone. Truly and completely alone.

God, what has she done?

* * *

**What do you think?**


End file.
